werewolf shadow wasn't great

In cinema history, we continued our werewolf month with Werewolf Shadow aka The Werewolf vs. Vampire Woman (see trailer above). This was a 1970 European production written by and starring the legendary Paul Naschy.

There was a lot to like in this movie. It was definitely a mood piece, and that worked well. The classic style wolfman makeup was done well, as was the time-lapse animation that was used for the transformations. I also admit that I loved the scene where one of the female vampires emerged from a tomb, looking like Lene Lovich channeling Wednesday Adams (see it starting at about 21 seconds into the trailer above). The slow motion effects, which kind of reminded me of the Six Million Dollar Man, worked well. And even the wolfman's sister, looking all Gloria Steinemy was interesting.

But despite the strong points, this was just weak on story. In some ways it tried to do much -- being both werewolf and vampire story. And yet it didn't do enough. What's the story? I still can't tell you. Suffice to sday it involved vampires and a werewolf. Oh, and blood.

Next week we're doing Werewolves on Wheels, a 1971 biker werewolf movie. I'm looking forward to it...